You Stole My Heart (Manic the Hedgehog love story)
by shadowgirl303
Summary: Manic x OC! Missy, a young girl from a small town, finds herself transported to another world when she stumbles upon a Chaos Emerald. Will she able to fine her way back home, or will she find herself attached to this new world?
1. Chapter 1

I woke up this morning and slowly got out of bed. I look at my calander and realized that it was my birthday. I run to my closet and grabed a blue halter top and a pair of blue jeans with holes in them. I then walk into my bathroom and take a quick shower. After I'm showered and dressed I grab my phone and MP3 player. I walk outside and see two of my friends, Dalton and Matt.

"Hey Melissa." Dalton says to me. I walk right past him, not really paying attention to anything he said after that.

"Uh... Missy?" Matt says.

I look back at him. "Yes?"

"Did you even hear us?"

"Uh... no?" He does a face palm while Dalton walks up to me.

"We said Happy Birthday."

"Oh. Thanks."

He gives me a strange look. "Why don't you seem that excited about it?"

I shrug. "I don't know. It doesn't really mean anything."

He grabs my shoulders and looks into my eyes. "It's about them, isn't it?" I look away from his captivating blue eyes and don't respond. He lets me go and I start to walk away.

"Where are you going?" Matt asks.

I stop and turn around. "I uhh... don't know..."

He does another face palm.

"Sorry..." I whipser and look down at my feet and feel myself blush.

"Come on, let's get going." Dalton says as he starts to walk to his vehicle.

"Where exactly are we going?"

"That's up to you."

"I don't know where I wanna go..." I whisper.

"Just get in my car and you'll decide when we get there."

I nod and climb into the backseat. Dalton and Matt climb in. Matt suddenly reaches into the glove department and pulls out a pair of sunglasses.

"You left these in here last time." he says as the tosses them back at me.

"I was looking for those. Thanks dude." I slip them on as we ride off.

* * *

We arrive at Dalton's house. He looks back at me and I give him a bewildered look.

"I thought that it was up to me as to where we go?"

"It is. But I gotta get something real quick."

"Mkay. But I'm getting out." I say as I open the door.

"Suit yourself."

I sit the hood of the car while Dalton goes inside his house, followed by Matt.

I look up at the sky and watch the clouds roll by. I sigh out and look towards the woods that are nearby. I don't know why, but something inside me told me to go in there. I jump off the car and walk towards the woods. I stop in front of the first tree and look back at the house. I sigh then walk into the woods. I start to wander around aimlessly. I take in a breath of fresh air and let it out. I sigh and keep walking until I reach a clearing.

I stop when I see the strangest looking rock in the middle of the clearing. I walk up to it cautiously and pick it up. I start to examine it and realize that it looks like a blue Chaos Emerald. It suddenly starts to glow bright and make a loud ringing sound. I close my eyes and try my best to cover my ears while holding the gem. Then I black out.

* * *

I hear birds chirping and I slowly start to open my eyes. I find myself looking directly into the sun and shield my eyes because of the brightness, even though I was wearing sunglasses. I slowly start to sit up and get an intense headache suddenly. I groan out loud.

_Strange._ I think to myself._ This seems a lot like the beginning of the music video for When It All Falls Apart by The Veronicas._ I look around and find myself in the clearing of a forest._ All that's missing is a bed and a massive hangover... although this headache feels a lot like a hangover._ I continue to look around and realize that something looks different.

_Why do these woods look different?_ I look down at myself and realize that I looked different. I see a lake and run over to it. I gasp at my reflection. I wasn't a human anymore. I was a hedgehog. I had blue fur and yellowish-gold highlight in my quills which was as long as my hair when I was a human. I say purple scar like markings on my arms, legs, and stomach. I take off my sunglasses and notice that my eyes were still hazel green, but they also had a purpleish tent to them. I lift up the quills over my right eye and saw that I still a scar over it. I was also wearing the same thing I was wearing before but they shrunk to fit me. I also noticed that I was a couple inches shorter.

"Wha? What the hell happened to me?" I look at the Chaos Emerald. "Why am I a hedgehog?" I look into the Emerald and see my human refection. I shake my head and pocket the emerald. I start to wander around the woods aimlessly since I had no where else to go.

After a few minutes of walking, I arrive in what looked like a city. I start to wander around, looking at all the buildings and stuff. I begin to feel a little nervous because of the number of people walking down the street, so I turn into an alley. I keep walking until I hear a voice. I turn around and see a male cat with black fur and deep red eyes that sent chills down my spine.

"What are you doing in my alley?" He asks.

"I...uh..."

He starts to walk up to me and I start to back away slowly in fear. He backs me into a wall and pins me into it.

"Well, now that you're here, we could have some fun."

I begin to feel afraid as I start to struggle, but his grip on my arms tighten. He then kisses me as I continue to struggle. I then knee him in the gut and he pulls back and holds his gut. I take my chance and run off.

"You bitch! Get your ass back here! I wasn't done with you!" I look behind me and see that he's following me. I start to speed up in hopes that I can outrun him. I stop when I come up to a chain link fence.

"SERIOUSLY! Why do they put these in the middle of a freakin' alley!" I turn around and see him getting closer to me. I jump up on the fence and start to climb. Then something grab my foot. I look down and see him. I scream as he pulls me down and looks me in the eyes angerly. He then slaps me.

"You bitch!" He growls. He slaps me again and I begin to feel tears in my eyes.

"Stop... please!" I cry out.

He pushes me to the ground and I hit my head hard on the cement. He then starts to kick me and I slowly start to lose sight of what was happening.

"Leave her alone, Shade." He stops suddenly. I look over and see familair looking green hedgehog walking over to us.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't Manic." the newly named Shade says.

Manic walks up to him. "What do you think you're doing to this poor girl."

"I was just having some fun."

"By beating her up?"

"Uhh... well..."

"Your fun is over." Manic suddenly punches Shade in the face. He flies into a wall and hits his head, blacking out instantly. Manic then walks over to me and kneels next to me.

"Are you okay?" He asks me.

"Uh..." was all that would come out of my mouth when I tried to talk. He then lifts me up bridal style and soon enough, I black out.


	2. Chapter 2

I began to regain contioness. (Sorry, can't spell very well, work with me here.) I sit up and feel throbbing in my head. I place a hand on my head and start to look around. I realize that I'm in a dark room and can't really see anything.

"Oh, good, you're awake." I hear a voice say.

I jump and look towards where I heard the voice. But since it's so dark, the only thing can really see is a pair of light brown eyes.

"Wh...who are you?" I ask, a little afraid.

He steps closer and I can see a green hedgehog with spines sticking up on his head. He's got two piercings in his left ear. He is also wearing an orange vest and a fanny pack.

"I'm Manic." he says. He sits in a chair that was sitting next to the bed.

"Where am I? How'd I get here?"

"Well, I saw you getting beat up by this dude named Shade. So I jumped in and got him to back off. But you didn't look too good, so I brought you back to my place and fixed you up."

"Uh... thanks." I mumble.

"What's your name?"

"Missy." He nods at me when I say it. "Thanks for helping me, but I really think I should be going." I start to climb out of bed, but he places a hand on my shoulder and stops me.

"That's not a very good idea."

"Why not?"

"Because it's getting dark, and the city can be dangerous at night."

"What time is it?"

"Nine at night."

"Really!? I've been out for pretty much all day!?"

"Afraid so."

I look away from him. I let out a sad sigh.

"Are you okay?"

I look at and sigh. I'm gonna have to tell someone sooner or later. "Well... not really."

"What happened?"

"Well... it's kinda hard to explain."

"Just try then."

I sigh. "Well, I'm not exactly from around here. I'm from another planet. I was walking through some woods and found a Chaos Emerald. But when I picked it up, I started to glow and make a ringing sound and the next thing I know, I'm somewhere else and I'm a hedgehog. I just started to wander around and found a city and just go in. I go down an alley because felt crowded on the sidewalks. But then I get ambussed by that... dude... I forgot his name... But then you come along and... well, I think you should know the rest."

He just gives me a crazy look. "Wha?"

I reach into my pocket and pull out the Chaos Emerald and show it to him. He takes it from my hand and starts to examine.

"Hmm... I guess you were right." He gives it back to me.

"I don't know what to do."

"I don't know either. But I'll tell you what. Tomorrow, we'll go find my bro. He'll know what to do. But for tonight, we'll just stay here."

"Okay." He gets up and starts to leave. "Hey, Manic." He stops and looks back at me. "Thanks for everything you've done for me today."

"No problem." He says. He then leaves the room. I sigh and look up at the celing. I then lie down on the bed and fall asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

I wake up the next morning, surprised that it was somewhat bright. I look at the wall next to the bed and realize that there was a small window. I sit up and take a good look around the room. I see green walls that look like someone punched a hole into a few times. I look at the bed and see the blankets are all green.

I climb out of the bed and walk through the open door, but then realize that there was no door. I see that I'm in what looked like a living room and kitchen mixed into one. I see a green sofa that looked like it had some better days. And lying on top of it, sleeping, was Manic. I find myself smiling at him.

_He's so cute when he sleeps. _I think to myself. I walk up to the sofa and start to shake him.

"Hey, Manic." He rolls over and mumbles. I continue to shake him. "Manic, wake up. It's morning."

"Five more minutes Sonia..." he mumbles.

I stop shaking him. "Sonia... I'm not... aww forget it!" I take out my phone. _There's only one way I can think of to wake him up._ I turn it on, turn the volume up all the way and open my Music Player. I then play What the Hell by Avril Lavigne and hold the phone close to his ear.

He jumps awake and yells "What the fuck!?" I take a couple of steps away from him.

"I'm sorry. You wouldn't wake up."

He looks at me and says "Oh, I forgot you were here."

I stop the music and put my phone in my pocket. "Aren't you gonna take me to your brother's place."

"I will, but it's like..." He looks at the clock on the wall. "Eight in the morning. It's too early. Let me get some more sleep."

"What am I supposed to do until then?"

"I don't know." He rolls over to where his back was facing me and goes back to sleep. I roll my eyes at him and go back to the open bedroom and lie back down on the bed. I take out my phone and see that I have about 100 text messages, missed calls, and voice mails... most of them from Matt and Dalton.

"Oh shit. I forgot about them." I start to scroll through the text messages and they all the say the same thing: Where r u?

I start to dial Dalton's number, but then realize that he probably isn't awake yet. I sigh and put my phone away. I then pull out my MP3 player and turn it on. I start to go though the songs until I find a good song and listen to it.

* * *

**2 hours later**

I hear a voice. I look up and see Manic. I take out my headphones.

"I'm sorry what?"

"I asked if you were ready to go?"

"Oh. Yeah I'm ready."

"Okay, let's go."

* * *

He grabs my hand, but as soon as he does, I feel a warm tingly feeling flow through my hand and up my arm where he was touching. I look down at out connected hands in curiosity. I look up at him and see that's look down at out connected hands. He suddenly shakes his head as if he's trying to wake himself up from a trance.

"Let's get going." he pulls me out the front door.

After a few hours of walking though the city and through some woods I woke up in the day before, we arrive at a big yellow mansion. I gasp as soon as I see and look at Manic.

"Your brother lives here!?"

"Yep."

I looked back at the mansion and gasped again. Then I look back at Manic. "Well, what are we waiting for, let's go inside."


	4. Chapter 4

Manic leads up to the front door of the big yellow mansion, his hand still holding mine as he knocks on the front door, the warm tingly feeling still running though my arm from his touch. I finally got the guts to ask him about it:

"Uh... Manic." I say shyly. He looks at me. "Why are you still holding my hand?"

He looks at our connected hands and instantly lets go, the tingling disappearing with it.

"Uh... sorry. Must've forgotten..." he mumbles. He then knocks on the door. A few seconds after he knocks, the door opens and standing the doorway was none other than Sonic the Hedgehog.

"Manic!" he exclaims as soon as he sees the green hedgehog. "Long time, no see, bro."

"Yo, Sonic! Same to you." They give each other a hug and a pat on the back (I think it's called a tough handshake? IDK I've seen something like that on The Sims 2). I begin to feel a little wary about what was going on.

"Uh..." I say a little shyly.

Manic suddenly pulls back from his brother, as if he suddenly remembered I was there.

"Oh, right." he says as he turns to me. He then turns back to Sonic. "Sonic, this is Missy. Missy, this is my bro, Sonic."

I definitively begin to feel shy now. "Hi." I say quietly.

"Nice to meet you, Missy." He reaches out to shake my hand. I slowly reach my hand out and grab his and we shake.

He gives me a weird look. "Are you okay?"

"Uh..." _Sorry... I'm kinda shy... I'll warm up to you when I get to know you better..._

"Anyways..." Manic says. "The reason why I'm here is because we need your help with something..."

"Okay. Come inside then. We'll talk about it there." He goes inside; Manic and I follow.

We follow him into what looked like the living room. There, I see Tails, Knuckles, Cream and Cheese, Amy, Silver, Blaze, Shadow, Rouge, and even Sonia, Manic's sister. As soon as Sonia sees Manic, she jumps up out of her seat and runs at Manic.

"Manic!" she says as she tackles Manic in a hug, causing me to jump back a foot and feel a pang of sadness.

"Hey... sis... can't... breathe..." Manic gasps out.

She instantly releases. "Sorry... but I haven't seen you in forever." She then realizes that I'm there and points at me. "Who is she?"

I step out from behind Manic, revealing myself to everyone.

"I'm Missy" I say shyly.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Sonia, Manic's sister."

For some reason, I begin to feel a little bit more comfortable. Then Sonic walks up to us.

"Come on, let me introduce you to everyone else." He leads me further into the room. "This is Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Cream and Cheese, Blaze, Silver, Rouge, and Shadow." He points at them when he says their name.

I look at all of them, beginning to feel shy again. "Uh... hi everybody."

"So... what brings you here?" Sonic says to me.

I freeze up. Shit. _I have to explain what happened._ "I... uh..."

"We came here because of this." He suddenly takes out the blue Chaos Emerald. That's when I realize that I didn't have it.

"Wait a minute. Did you take that from me?"

"Uh..." he starts. I walk up to him and snatch if from his hands. Then it gets snatched out of my hands. I look over and see Shadow examining it.

"Hmm... where did you find this?" he asked me.

"Back home." I reply.

"And where would that be?"

And the next thing I know, I'm telling everybody the whole story... about how yesterday was my birthday and I was hanging out with Dalton and Matt to celebrate it, how I wandered away from them to go for a walk, how I found the Emerald and it teleporting me here, wandering through the city by myself, almost getting rapped, and Manic jumping in and taking me back to his place. Afterwards, everybody is giving the craziest look and I take out my phone and pulled up a picture of me and a couple of my friends.

"If you want proof, here it is." I show the phone to everyone.

"Well, I guess you were right... but what are your friends gonna think when they realize that you're gone?" Sonic asks.

"I'm pretty sure that they know I'm gone." I respond as I start to look at my text messages.

Soon enough, everyone is bombarding me with questions, and I begin to freak out, on the verge of a panic attack. Suddenly, Manic jumps in.

"Guys! Leave her alone, can't you see that she's been having a rough week?" He looks back at me and sees me breathing heavily, trying not to throw up. "It even looks like she's having an anxiety attack." He wraps an arm around me, helping me stand on my feet. "Are you okay?"

"I will me... once everyone... leaves me... alone..." I pant out.

"Uh... Sonic?"

"Just sit her on the sofa."

I begin to freak out a little bit more, thinking about everybody questioning me when I'm better.

"No... if I'm gonna... be staying her... for a while... I might as well... go to my room..." I look up at Sonic. "That is... if I get... to stay."

"Well, of course you do. You have no where else to go."

"...Great..."

"Okay, I'll show you your room." He starts to head for the stairs. I start to try to follow, but realize that Manic's still holding onto me.

"Do you mind..." I breathe out as I feel the dizziness starts to fade.

"Yes, I do. I'm helping you." He starts to help me follow Sonic. We follow him up the stairs.


	5. Chapter 5

We follow Sonic down the hall and to a door. He opens the door and I gasp at what I see.

I see a bed sitting in the middle of the room and a dresser with a TV sitting on top of it. There is a walk in closet and a giant glass door leading out to the balcony. The walls are a deep blue color and the blankets on the bed are a lite blue color. There are 4 blue bean bags sitting in front of the TV. There are blue curtains hanging by the glass door that can be pulled shut.

"Whoa..." I whisper.

Sonic looks back at me. "You like it?"

"Well, yeah. It's awesome!" I break free of Manic's hold and walk into the room. I go lay down on the bed and look up at the ceiling.

"Are you gonna be okay?" I hear Sonic ask.

I look up at him. "Yeah, I'm fine now. Thanks for askin'."

"Okay, then I'll leave you to it then."

"Kay."

Sonic leaves, leaving just me and Manic alone. Manic walks up to the bed.

"What was that about?" Manic asks.

"What do you mean?"

"You... freaking out and acting all shy."

I feel myself blush. "Uh... I'm kinda don't like big crowds and stuff. And I hate being the center of attention." I look away from him. "I just, start to freak out and stuff whenever everybody starts to talk to me and stuff. It's always been like that..." I close my eyes and sigh.

"Why didn't you tell me that yesterday was your birthday?"

I look at him. "I didn't think it was that big a deal."

"Why?"

I suddenly start to think about the past two years of my life. I begin to think about losing my parents and sibilings and how I never got tell them how much I loved them. I begin to feel like I was gonna cry. But then I shake off the feelings.

"It... it's complicated and I'd rather not talk about it." I look back at him. "Are you done with your questions yet?"

"I have one more question for you."

"And what is that?"

"How old are you."

"Seventeen. Now, I have a question for you."

"Yeah?"

"How old are you and your siblings?"

"We're seventeen too, but we're gonna be turnin' eighteen in about two weeks."

"Mkay." I roll over onto my side. I lie there like that for a few minutes before realizing that Manic's still standing there. "Do you mind? I'd like to get some rest."

"Oh, right. I guess I'll leave then." I hear him leave and close the door behind him. I can't help but smile at that.

I then begin to think about he told us. _He's almost 18? If that's the case, does that make everyone else about 3 years older than the really supposed to be?_ I yawn. _Oh well, I'll figure that out later._ I close my eyes and doze off...

* * *

I wake up about a few hours later when my phone starts to go off, playing the song When It All Falls Apart by The Veronicas. I answer it.

"Hello?" I say groggily.

"MELISSA! WHERE ARE YOU!"

"WHOA!" I yell in shock and fall out of bed with a loud thud. I drop my phone on the floor in the process. I pick it up and put it back to my ear. "What the hell was that for!?"

"Melissa!" I hear a familiar voice on the other end say.

I roll my eyes as I realize how it is. "Dalton. You didn't answer my question."

"You didn't answer mine."

"Answer mine first. Why did you yell at me through the phone?"

"Because me and Matt have been looking for you all over and can't find you! Where are you?"

"I'm... somewhere..."

"Where is somewhere?"

I sigh. "I'll tell you, if you promise me you won't call me crazy and don't tell anybody about it."

"What? Why would I call you crazy, and I might tell if it's bad."

"Just promise."

"Fine, I promise."

"Okay... I'm on Mobious."

I don't hear anything on the other end for a minute. Finally, I hear. "Are you really?"

"Yeah."

"How?"

I breathe out a sigh of relief, thankful that he actually believes me. "Well, as you may already know, I snuck away from you guys yesterday while you in your house. I went into the woods to go for a little walk, you know, to get a little fresh air." I pause.

"I hear ya. Go on."

"Okay, so I get to a clearing and I find a Chaos Emerald. When I go and pick it up, it starts to glow and it brings me here." I let out a sigh. "And that's what happened."

"I see."

"Do you promise not tell anybody?"

"I guess... but can I at least tell Matt about where you are? He's about as worried as I was."

"As long as he promises not to tell anybody."

"Okay. But, you kinda ruined our surprise for you."

"Surprise? What surprise?"

"We were planning on throwing you a birthday party."

"Dalton!" I whine out. "You know how much I hate crowds and I even told you that I didn't want a party this year."

"I know. But it was gonna be a small party. We didn't invite that many people. And we kinda figured that you deserve one, since you've been having it kinda hard lately."

"Thanks for the concern, but I'm fine."

"You sure about that?"

"Yes, I am..." I suddenly her a knock on the door. I look up. "I gotta go. I'll talk to you later."

"Wait, Melissa..." But he doesn't get to finish since I hand up.

"Enter!" I yell. The door opens and Amy, Sonia, and Blaze come running in.

"Are you okay?" Amy asks as she runs up to me.

"Yeah... why do you ask?"

"We heard a loud thump from down stairs." Sonia says with concern in her voice.

"I'm fine. Don't worry about me."

"Are you sure?"

I look up at her. "Yes. I'm sure."

Blaze holds out a hand to me. I grab it and she pulls me to my feet. "What happened exactly? How did you end up on the floor?" she asks me.

"My friend called me and yelled at me. It shocked me to where I ended up falling out of bed."

"Okay."

"We're gonna back downstairs now." Amy says as she starts to leave the room.

I look up at them. "Can I come?"

"Sure. Let's go!" she says as she leaves the room.

I just roll my eyes at her. I then follow Sonia and Blaze out of the room.


	6. Chapter 6

We go downstairs and find Sonic, Manic, Silver, and Knuckles singing along to What Makes You Beautiful by One Direction.

"Oh no, not again." Sonia says.

I'm trying my hardest to not laugh at them. They sound ridiculous.

"Oh, God. Do they know how bad they sound together?" I say as I let out a little laugh.

"Not really." Blaze says.

I roll my eyes. "Well, I guess it's time for me to step in then."

"What do you mean?"

"You'll see." I walk into the room. "Hey guys."

They stop and look at me.

"Hey, Missy! How are you feeling?" Sonic asks.

"After hearing that... horrible."

They look at each other like I'm crazy. "Wha?"

"If you're gonna sing the song, at least do it right."

"What do you mean? I thought we were doing it right?"

"Eh... it could use some improvement." I walk to the center of the room. "Turn the music back on."

Soon enough the music starts to play and I start to sing:

_You're insecure_

_Don't know what for_

_You're turning heads when you walk through the door_

_Don't need make up_

_To cover up_

_Being the way that you are is enough_

Everyone in the room starts to go wide eyed as they listen to me sing:

_Everyone else in the room can see it_

_Everyone else but you_

_Baby you light my world like nobody else_

_The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed_

_But when you smile at the ground it ain't hard to tell_

_You don't know-oh-oh_

_You don't know you're beautiful_

_If only you saw what I can see_

_You'll understand why I want you desperately_

_Right now I'm looking at you and I can't believe_

_You don't know-oh-oh_

_You don't know you're beautiful_

_No-oh-oh_

_That's what makes you beautiful_

_So come on_

_You got it wrong_

_To prove I'm right I put it a song_

_I don't know why_

_You're being shy_

_And turn away when I look into your eyes_

_Everyone else in the room can see it_

_Everyone else but you_

_Baby you light my world like nobody else_

_The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed_

_But when you smile at the ground it ain't hard to tell_

_You don't know-oh-oh_

_You don't know you're beautiful_

_If only you saw what I can see_

_You'll understand why I want you desperately_

_Right now I'm looking at you and I can't believe_

_You don't know-oh-oh_

_You don't know you're beautiful_

_No-oh-oh_

_That's what makes you beautiful_

_Nananananananananana_

_Nananananana_

_Nananananananananana_

_Nananananana_

_Baby you light my world like nobody else_

_The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed_

_But when you smile at the ground it ain't hard to tell_

_You don't know-oh-oh_

_You don't know you're beautiful_

_Baby you light my world like nobody else_

_The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed_

_But when you smile at the ground it ain't hard to tell_

_You don't know-oh-oh_

_You don't know you're beautiful_

_If only you saw what I can see_

_You'll understand why I want you desperately_

_Right now I'm looking at you and I can't believe_

_You don't know-oh-oh_

_You don't know you're beautiful_

_No-oh-oh_

_You don't know you're beautiful_

_No-oh-oh_

_That's what makes you beautiful_

After the song ends, everyone was clapping and cheering.

"Wow, that was amazing!" Is pretty much what everyone said to me. I feel myself start to smile.

"Thanks guys."

Manic walked up to me. "I thought you said you hate being the center of attention."

"I did. But for some reason, whenever I'm performing, I'm not nervous." I shrug as I say that.

He gives me a baffled look. I roll my eyes and jump onto the sofa.

"Is that even possible?" Silver asks me.

"In my life, anything's possible."

"What do you mean by that?"

I look up at him, thinking about my parents and siblings and about how I lost them. I feel another pang of sadness and shake it off.

"Its... nothing..."

There is silence for a few stray minutes. Then, I hear a gasp as Amy suddenly yells "Let's play truth or dare!"

"Oh, God." I mumble.

Everyone piles up in a circle on the floor. Shadow and Rouge wander into the room and join in. I reluctantly get off the sofa and sit between Manic and Blaze.

"Okay, I'll go first." Amy says. She looks at Sonic. "Sonic, truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"Do you like me?"

I roll my eyes. _Of course she asks that._

"As a friend."

Amy seems to have a somewhat sad look on her face.

Sonic looks at me. "Missy, truth or dare?"

"Truth?" I question in fear.

"How long have you been singing?"

I breathe out a sigh of relief. "Since I was fifteen."

"Really? Aren't you fifteen?"

"No! I'm seventeen!" I look around the room, scoping out my victim. I look at Knuckles. _Perfect._

"Knuckles, truth or dare?"

"Uh... dare."

"I dare you to..." I look at Rouge. An evil smirk appears on my face. "I dare you to kiss Rouge."

"WHAT!?" they yell at the same time as they start to blush.

"You heard me, kiss."

They both give me a death glare, then look at each other.

"I'm not gonna kiss her." he says.

"And I'm not gonna kiss him." she says.

"Uhh, you have to." Amy says.

"You were the one who took the dare." Sonic says.

"And I gave it to you, so do it." I jump in with.

They just sit there, looking at each other and blushing.

"Oh, come on!" I say after about thirty seconds. "Kiss."

I start to chant it and soon enough everyone is chanting. Silver uses his telekinesis to pick Knuckles and Rouge off the floor and place them in front of each other in the center of the circle. They stand there blushing for a few seconds, then lean in and kiss. Everybody starts to cheer. Soon enough, they pull back, gasping for breath and are as red as ever. They both send a glare at me and I give them an innocent look.

Knuckles then points at Silver and says "Truth or dare?"

"Uh... dare."

"I dare you to walk around the room and act like a chicken."

Silver groans and gets up. He then starts acting like a chicken and walking around the room. Everybody laughs at him.

The game continues on. About five minutes later, Rouge has the floor. She points looks at Shadow.

"Truth or dare Shadow."

"Dare." he says, as if he's bored.

She looks at me, then backs at him. "I dare you to kiss Missy."

"You what!?" I yell.

"You heard me."

_Damn. I guess it's her payback for making her and Knuckles kiss._

"I'm not kiss her, so you might as well forget about it."

"You have to." Rouge says.

"You were the one who took the dare." Knuckles adds in.

"And I gave it to you, so do it."

Shadow groans as he gets up. I do the same and meet up with him in the center of the circle.

"I'm sorry about this." he whispers to me.

"It's okay." I whisper back.

He then grabs my shoulders and kisses me. I close my eyes and kiss back. I swear I can hear everyone cheering in the background. Then after a few seconds, he pulls back from me. I give him an embarrassed smile and look away from. I then go back to my spot between Manic and Blaze. I look at Manic and see that he has an angry look on his face and that he's glaring at someone. I look towards the direction of where he's glaring and see that he's glaring at Rouge.

"I dare everyone to stop playing this game." Shadow says.

"Thank you!" I say as I leap out of my spot and run upstairs and into my room. I jump onto my bed and hide my face in my pillow.


	7. Chapter 7

I suddenly feel like someone is watching me. I look up and see Silver and Blaze looking at me.

"Can I help you?" I ask.

"Are you okay?" Blaze asks me. They step into the room as she says that

"Yea-yeah... I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

"Because of the way you ran off. It was as if you were trying to hide something."

"What would I be hiding?"

"You tell me."

I begin to think. "I kinda have been hiding things from you guys, but I choose not to share them with you guys."

"Why not?" Silver asks.

"Because... I just don't like to talk about it..."

"Is it bad?" Blaze asks.

"Eh..."

I suddenly feel vibrating on my hip and I hear the song When It All Falls Apart by The Veronicas. I pull my phone out of my pocket and see that Dalton's calling. I hit a button and answer it.

"Hello?"

"Melissa." Dalton says.

"What do you want now?"

"What? I'm just checking up on you."

"Good for you."

"Are you mad at me?"

"Considering you almost blasted out my eardrums earlier, yes."

"I'm sorry I did that. Why'd you hang up on me earlier."

"Because."

"Because what?"

"Just because."

"Just because what?"

"Dalton! I don't wanna play this game with you."

"Game? What game? I'm so confused right now!" Silver suddenly says. Blaze just rolls her eyes. I look up at him and tell him to shush.

"Who was that?" Dalton says.

"It was Silver."

"Really?"

"Yes, really."

"Who are you talking to anyways?" Silver asks.

I put my hand over the mouth piece and say "It's Dalton."

"Who's Dalton." Blaze asks.

"He's my best friend from where I came from." I put the phone back up to my ear.

"Put the phone on speaker." Dalton says.

"Why?" I ask.

"Because, I wanna talk to them."

"But they don't know you."

"But I know them."

"Dude."

"Just do it."

"Fine." I remove the phone from my ear and turn it on speaker. "Are you happy now?"

"Yes, I am."

"Whoa! Speaker phone!" Silver exclaims.

"Silver, you are so naive."

"Guys." I say.

I suddenly hear another voice on the other end. "Dalton, who are you talking to?"

"Matt?" I say as I recognize the voice.

"Who's Matt?" Blaze asks.

"Another one of my friends from home."

"It's Melissa." Dalton says.

"Really? Put it on speaker!"

"Hey Matt!"

"Missy! What happened to you?"

"Didn't Dalton tell you?"

"Well, yes, but I'm still confused about how that could've happened."

"I guess I was just lucky."

"Do you think you could come back?"

I freeze up. I'm quite for about a minute.

"Uh... Missy?" Blaze says to me as she waves a hand in my face.

"I... uh... don't think I want to come back..."

"What? Why not?" Matt says.

"I don't know."

"It's about them, isn't it?" Dalton asks.

"Them?" Silver asks.

I look up at them. "Uhh... could you guys please leave the room for a minute, I wanna talk to Dalton and Matt alone. I'll let you guys know when I'm done."

"Okay, I guess." Blaze says. She starts to leave the room. "Come on, Silver."

"Coming."

They leave and close the door behind them. After they're gone, I turn the speaker off and put the phone back up to my ear.

"What automatically makes you think it's about my family?"

"Cause it's always about them."

"No it's not! Dammit, Dalton! I'm gettin' tired of you thinking my whole life revolves around being sad about how I lost my parents and siblings!"

"Hey! I don't always think that you think that!"

"Dalton!" I start to get tears in my eyes.

"Dalton! Calm down!" I hear Matt say.

"How can I calm down if my own best friend is constantly putting herself in pain because she blames herself for something she clearly didn't do!"

"Dalton!" I start to feel tears run down my face and my voice starts to crack.

"Calm the fuck down dude!"

"How the hell can I!?"

"Dalton! Please stop yelling." Sobs begin to escape from my throat.

"Now look at what you've done!" Matt yells.

"Please, guys, stop yelling at me!"

"I'm not yelling at Missy." Matt says to calmly. "I'm trying to get Dalton to calm his ass down."

"How am I supposed to calm down. She's upset. I'm not there to hold her or comfort her or to make her feel better!" He's still yelling.

"You know what Dalton? I think you should leave the room for a few minutes. When you feel like you've calmed down, you can come back in. Now, leave."

I hear a door shut in the background. I feel another sob escape from me.

"Okay, it's just me and you now, Missy." I sniff. "Calm down, I'm here for you now."

"No, you're not."

"Well, maybe not literally, but I'm doing the best I can. I'm gonna talk through this."

I start to smile a little. "Thanks Matt. You're the best."

"Yeah. And I'm also available to date too."

I roll my eyes as I remember dating him. Then I remember how things ended bitterly and start to feel worse.

"Please don't remind me of that. Things ended bad and it was awful."

"But you dumped me, remember?"

"I know, but things weren't the same after that. Things still aren't back to normal between."

"I know. Just smile."

And I do. I'm glad that we are friends, even if things aren't exactly back to the way they were before. My sniffling slows down and I stop sobbing. My tears slowly dry up.

"Are you better?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. I'm gonna let Dalton back in, okay?"

"Mkay."

I hear a door open in the background.

"Hey, Melissa..." I hear Dalton say.

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry that I yelled at you. It's just that... I hate seeing you upset. You're like a sister to me, and I hate to think that somethings bugging you." I start to smile as I begin to feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I then shake off the feelings.

_I can't fall for him. I don't things to end between us like it did for me and Matt._

"It's okay Dalton." I whisper.

"I love you." I hear him say.

I freeze up suddenly, wondering if he meant it like I thought he did. I shake off the feeling again.

"I love you too."

"I gotta go now, so I guess I'll talk to you later."

"Kay-kay. Bye Dalton, bye Matt."

"Bye Missy!"

"Bye Melissa, I hope to see you again soon."

I hang up. I get off my bed and walk up to a full sized mirror hanging up on the wall, which I didn't notice before for some reason, and look at my reflection. I see that I don't look too bad, which makes me smile.

_Hopefully, nobody will notice that I've been crying._

I walk up to the door and open it, only to find Silver and Blaze standing in the hallway making out. I stand there, shocked. They suddenly pull back and look at me.

"Uhh..." is all that I can say.

"Uhh..." They start to blush.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to intrude or anything."

"It's okay." Blaze says.

"Uhh... you guys are welcome to come back in."

They look at each other.

"Naw, that's okay." Silver says.

"We're just gonna go do something else now."

"O...kay..." I say. I watch them walk off down the hallway. I go back into my room and jump back onto my bed, only to have someone knock on my door.

"Who is it?" I ask.

The door opens and Shadow comes in.

"Can I help you?"

"I just came to give this back to you." he says as he pulls out the blue Chaos Emerald.

"Wha?" I start to feel around again and realize that I didn't have it... again. "How does this keep happening!?"

"I took it from you to examine it, remember? But then I forgot to give it back."

"Oh... right... sorry."

He just nods as he walks up and gives it to me.

"Be careful of where you put it. You never know who could come in and take it."

I nod as I start to think of Rouge. "Thanks for the warning."

He nods back and leaves. I sigh and lie back down on the bed. I then end up falling asleep.


	8. Chapter 8

About two day have passed since then. Everyday, Dalton and Matt call me to check up on me and ask me when and if I'm gonna go back home. And everyday they get the same response.

Surprisingly, Manic doesn't go back to his home in the city. Apparently he has room here, but he never uses it. And, as it turns out, his room is next to mine. And everyday, he leaves and he always comes back with a gift for me. Which I'm assuming he stole it since I know that he's a thief. I don't really mind, as long as he didn't get caught in the process.

I've been getting a little closer to Silver and Blaze, since they are my age. And, as it turns out, they haven't been dating very long. I don't really mind that they are all over each other sometimes. I just hope things don't end bad like it did for me and Matt. Cause I know that if you break up, things will never be the same.

Things have been great lately. But all that's about to change...

* * *

I'm sitting on the sofa when Manic walks into the room. I notice that he's heading for the door.

"Hey Manic, where are you going?" I ask.

"I'm goin' out." he says.

"Can I come with you?"

"Uhh..." He was acting like he wasn't expecting me to ask that. "Su-sure... I guess." I get up and follow him out the door.

"The city can be kinda dangerous, so stick close to me, okay?"

"Got it."

I start to follow him. Soon enough, I get tired of the silence and take out my phone. I pull up the music player and play the song Ki$$ N Tell by Ke$ha. He looks back at me.

"Really? You have to play music?"

"Uh... yeah... sorry..."

"It's all good."

I smile up at him.

We continue to walk along in silence. He suddenly stops.

"Stop the music." he says.

I turn my phone off. "Why? What's wrong?"

"Shh... I heard something." He puts his arm around me protectively.

I start to get worried. Then, I hear it too. It sounds like... robots?

"Robots?" he nods. "Does that mean... Eggman?"

"Most likely."

"What would he want from us?"

"I want you is what I want." I suddenly hear from behind us. We slowly turn around and see none other than Doctor Eggman.

Manic growls. "Eggman."

"Hello Manic, it's been a while since I've seen you." He then he looks at me. "And Missy. I need you're help for something, so you're coming with me."

I gasp. "How do you know my name!?"

"OVER MY DEAD BODY!" Manic suddenly yells.

"Hohoho." Suddenly, a bunch of robots appear out of nowhere.

"Manic..." I say a little bit worried.

"Don't worry, Missy."

They all start to charge for us. I begin to go wide eyed. Manic's grip on me only tightens. He then jumps up and they crash into each other. He sits me down next to a tree.

"Run! Go back to the house and get help!" he tells me.

"Okay!" I start to run, but only to get stopped by a robot. I try to run another direction and find another robot. I'm suddenly surrounded by robots.

"I'm afraid you can't leave, my dear." I look up and see Eggman in his chair thing with a mechanical hand on it. It reaches out and grabs me.

"AHHH! MANIC!" I yell out.

Manic looks up and sees me.

"MISSY!"

"Buh-bye, Manic." I hear Eggman yell. The next the thing I know, I'm unconscious.

* * *

Manic's POV:

"AHHH! MANIC!" I hear.

I look up and see Missy being help captive by a mechanical arm on Eggman's chair thing.

"MISSY!" I yell out.

"Buh-bye, Manic." Eggman yells at me. They then fly off. I start to follow them, but they fly too high for me to be able to keep up.

"Shit!" I yell out. I turn around and run back to the house. I burst through the front door and find everyone in the living room.

"Manic?" Sonia asks. "What happened? Where's Missy?"

"Ehh..." I pant out. I ran so hard that I'm out of breath.

"What?" Sonic asks. He walks up to me and grabs my shoulders and shakes me. "Spit it out."

"Eggman... he found us... and grabbed her..."

"He what!? We have to help her!"

* * *

Missy's POV:

I wake up in a cell. I look around as I sit up. That's when I realize that I'm in a metal base.

"Good, you're up." I hear. I look up and see Eggman.

I growl. "What do you want."

"I want your power."

"Power? What power? I ain't got no power."

"And that, my dear, is where you are wrong." I give him a questioning look. He starts to explain.

"You see, you were born with an unusual power... a power of darkness. If you get angry enough, you will unleash it. It'll give you unlimited power and if you infect someone with it, you could kill them."

"So, you're saying I have Dark Eco powers? Off from the Jak and Daxter games?"

He nods. "If you wanna put it that way, but it also gives you strength whether or not you're using the power. You also have telekinesis, like Silver."

_Sweet._

"And for that, I need you're help with something."

"Whatever it is, the answer is no!" I yell out.

"Ahhh... but you have too. You wouldn't want to hurt your 'friends'."

"Friends?"

He pushes a button and I suddenly see cage hanging over a tank of water, with Dalton and Matt in it.

"Dalton!? Matt!?"

They look over at me.

"Missy!" Matt yells.

"Don't do it, Melissa, it's a trap."

I look up at Eggman. "You wouldn't dare hurt them." I growl.

"Oh wouldn't I?" He then pushes a button and the tank lowers a little bit.

"NO! DON'T HURT THEM!" I scream out.

"Hohohoho!"

I look up at the doctor. "What do you want from me?"

"I want you to help me with world domination, so I can build my Eggman empire!" My eyes go wide. "I have already asked your friends, but they have already turned me down, so now your choice will decide their fate."

"Nonononono. You can't do this."

"Oh, yes I can. Watch." He pushes the button again and the cage lowers again.

_Shit! He's gonna kill my friends. I can't do this to them. But I can't help Eggman either. What do I do?_

I suddenly hear an explosion. I look up and see a cloud of dust in the wall. After the dust clears, I see none other than Sonic.

"Sonic!" I yell out in joy.

"What are you up to now, Eggman?" Sonic says as he walks up to the doctor.

"You're just in time, Sonic. Now, watch as these two boys drown!"

"HEY! I'M AN A-DULT!" Matt yells out.

Suddenly, my cage opens. I look over and see Sonia. She looks up at me and winks. I smile and nod at her. Manic runs up to me and starts to drag me away.

"Come on, Missy, we have to get out of here."

"Wait, Manic, we can't leave!"

"Why not?"

"Because up there." I point to the cage over the tank. "My friends are up there. We gotta help them." Silver and Blaze run in. I break free of Manic's grip. "Hey, Silver, can you help me with something?"

He looks at me "What is it?"

I point up at the cage. "Help me get up there."

He looks up at the cage then back at me. "Got it." He uses is powers to lift me up and float me towards the cage.

"Missy!?" Matt questions.

"What are you doing? You could get killed! Get outta here!" Dalton says.

"Not until you guys are free." I say as I decide to try my so called strength to bend the bars.

"Wait! Don't touch the..."

I feel a shock and I scream as I let go.

"... bars..."

"Oww!" I start to rub my hands together.

"You need to deactivate the shock field."

"Oh... uhh..." I start to look around and find a switch. I start to take my shoe off.

"What are you doing?" Dalton asks.

"You'll see." I throw my shoe at the switch and hit it. I then turn back towards the cage and grab the bars and start to pull.

"Help me Dalton!" I yell at him remembering his strength. He grabs the bars and starts to pull. Soon enough, there is a gap big enough for them to slip through. I turn around.

"Sil..." I start to say and see that he's right in front of me. I jump back and hit my head against the metal cage.

"Missy!" he grabs me.

"Shit! We gotta get outta here."

"Come on, I'll use my powers to help you guys get down."

Dalton and Matt start to glow a turquoise color and begin to float. Silver grabs me and we begin to float down. I start to lose cautiousness. We land on the ground and Manic runs up to us.

"Missy!" he yells.

Tails runs up to us and examines my head.

"She'll be fine, she's just gotta bump. I'll doctor it when we get back to the house."

"Okay, let's get outta here." Manic suddenly lifts me up in my arms and they start to run. Then I black out.


	9. Chapter 9

I wake up in my bed. I start to look around. Thats when I notice that Manic's sleeping in the chair next to the bed. I start to sit up.

"Ma-Manic?" I groan out.

He slowly wakes up and looks at me.

"Missy..." he says.

"How long have I been out?"

"About a day."

"Really? I really hit my head that hard?"

He shakes his head. "Tails said that you were out that long because you haven't been getting as much sleep as your body needed."

I start to think about all the nights I just lay awake in my bed and couldn't fall asleep.

"Yeah, I can't sleep very well."

He smiles at me, but then his smile disappears.

"Is something wrong?"

"Uh... no... I, uh, just..."

I give him a confused look.

_How am I supposed to tell her? I'm so nervous. What if she says no?_

My eyes go wide, but I shake off the surprised look.

_Doctor Eggman did say that I had telekinesis. I bet that mind reading is one of my powers. But what did he mean by that?_

"I need to tell you something..." he starts.

"Yes, what is it?"

He takes my hand. "I like you."

"I like you too. You're a good friend."

"Nonono. I like you... as more than just a friend..." His face is red.

"Oh, Manic. I don't know what to say." He gives my hand a gentle squeeze. I smile up at him. "I like you too."

He starts to smile. "Does that mean you'll go out with me?"

_Please say yes, please say yes._

I nod. "Yes!"

"Yes!" he says as he hugs me. I hug back. He then pulls back from the hug and looks into my eyes.

I feel myself begin to smile as he leans in slowly. He then presses his lips against mine. I close my eyes and moan lightly. I begin to kiss back gently. We continue to kiss for a few minutes. We stop when we hear a knock on the door. He gets off me as the door opens. Tails walks in.

"Hey, you're awake. How are you feeling?"

"I'm feeling great." I say as I look up at Manic.

"Good."

"Am I allowed to get up and move around and stuff."

"Yeah, you didn't hit you're head hard enough for you to have a concussion, so go ahead."

"Mkay." I throw the covers off of me. I then get up from the bed. As soon as I stand though, my legs give out from under me and I fall. Manic catches me in his arms. I look up into his eyes.

"Don't worry baby, I've got you." He whispers. I smile up at him.

"Well, now that you're up, we should probably go tell everyone else." I hear Tails say.

I look up at him. "Okay. We'll be down in a minute."

"Okay. See you then." Tails leaves the room. I start to follow, but Manic grabs my hand and stops me. I look back at him.

"Manic..."

"I got you something."

"Really?"

"Yeah... consider it a late birthday present." He gives me a box.

"What is it?"

"Open it and you'll see."

I nod and open up the box, revealing a silver heart shaped locket.

"Manic..." I whisper as he take the necklace out of the box and puts it on me. I smile up at him. "I love it."

"I thought you would." he whispers as he leans in and kisses me. I close my eyes and kiss back. He pulls back after a few seconds.

"Come on, lets go downstairs and tell everyone that I'm up." I whisper. He nods at me and takes my hand. We then leave the room and go downstairs.

"Hey, look who's up." Sonic says as I enter the room.

"Melissa!" Dalton says as he practically tackles me in a hug. "I was so worried about you."

"Dalton... can't... breathe..." I gasp out.

He lets me go. "Oh, right, super strength."

"It's okay."

"Missy." Matt says as he walks up to me and gives me a hug.

"Matt. It's so great to see you again."

"How'd you guys get here?"

"Well, we were walking through the woods behind my house when we came upon a clearing." Dalton began.

"And in the center of the clearing, we find a big clear gem. We went and picked up, and it brought us here."

"We woke up in Eggman's base, and he start to question us about you."

"And he tried to get us to join his empire."

"But when we declined, he threw us in that cage and dangled us over that tank of water."

"He leaves and when he comes back, he's got you. He imprisons you in that cage and then... you should know the rest."

"My God." I whisper as I remember what happened. Then I remember what Eggman told me.

"Hey, guys, Eggman told me something interesting while I was there."

Everyone looks at me.

"What'd he tell you?" Tails asks.

"He told me that I have powers."

"Powers? What kind of powers?" Sonic asks.

"He told me that I have telekinetic powers like Silver, and he also said that I have a dark power... similar to Dark Eco."

"Dark Eco?"

"Off from the Jak and Daxter games."

Everyone gives me a confused look. I look over at Dalton and Matt. They had a look in their eyes that said they knew what I was talking about.

"Anyways, he said it was a power of darkness and if I get angry enough, I'll unleash it. It'll give me unlimited power and if I infect somebody with it, it'll will them... and he also said that it'll give me strength whether or not I'm using it."

"That's strange." Knuckles says. I glare at him.

"Hey, you know now that I'm thinking about it, Eggman did say something about us having powers too." Dalton says.

"Really? What did he say you guys had?"

"He said that me and Matt both had telekinesis."


	10. Chapter 10

"You guys... have... telekinesis..." I say, shocked.

"Apparently so." Matt says.

"Hmm... I wonder if I can do it?" I thought out loud as I stick my hand out in front of me. I begin to concentrate. Soon enough, an object sitting on the table starts to float up in the air. I blink in surprise and it falls.

"Whoa..." I whisper. "I guess I'll need to work on that..."

"It takes a lot of practice to control telekinesis anyways, Missy." Silver says.

"Yeah... I guess you're right." I look at Matt and Dalton. "Why don't you guys try out your powers."

"I'll give it a shot." Dalton says as he points his hand at same object I picked up. He closes his eyes and the object begins to float up in the air. He opens his eyes and the object drops a second later. "Damn."

"My turn." Matt says. He points his hand at the TV remote on the sofa. A few seconds later, it's floating above everybody's heads. He then puts his hand down and the remote drops on Knuckles's head.

"OUCH!" he yelled out.

"You deserved it for making me and Shadow kiss." I say.

"It wasn't me who made you do that, it was Rouge." he growls.

"But you went along with it."

"Hey, I only did it since you made me and Knuckie kiss."

I look at her. "Knuckie, I knew you liked him!"

She blushes. "What, I do not!"

"Okay, whatever the hell you guys are talking about, shut up about it." Dalton suddenly yells at us. He seems to have a very confused expression on his face, and I wouldn't blame him.

"Speaking of kiss..." Manic says as he walks up to me. "I've got news."

"What is it Manic?" Sonic asks.

Manic grabs my hand. I look at him and he looks me in the eyes.

"Missy and I are dating." He then kisses me gently on the lips.

Everybody, for some reason, seemed shocked.

"Melissa, is this true?" Dalton asks me.

"Is there a problem with it?" I ask him, since I could tell that he didn't seem very happy about it.

"Uhh... can I talk to you alone for a minute?"

"Sure?" I say a little confused. He leads me to the stairs and stops in front of them. "What is it?"

"Why are you dating Manic?"

I roll my eyes. "Because I can."

"Isn't he a thief?"

"Yeah... so..."

"That would make him a bad influence."

I roll my eyes again. "No it wouldn't. There are people back home that we hung out with that are WAY worse influences than him."

"That doesn't matter. He's a thief. I don't want you to get caught in the middle of a crime and getting into trouble for it."

I start to get a little mad. "That's not gonna happen."

"It could."

"Dalton... trust me, that's not gonna happen. Manic's not gonna let that happen."

"I don't want you dating him."

I felt my heart sink when he said that to me.

"Wha-what?"

"You heard me. He's a bad influence. He could get you arrested for something he did."

I close my eyes as I feel anger burn up inside of me.

"Think about it. What would your parents say if they were still around?"

That drew the line. "WHAT THE HELL'S WRONG WITH YOU!?" I practically scream in anger. "How could you just suddenly pull my parents into this on me!? They're gone! There's no way I'm ever gonna be able to see them again! So, how the hell can they tell me what I can and can't do?" I feel tears sting my eyes. "And, FYI, we've done things WORSE than steal stuff. Think about all the times we went out and got drunk and didn't get back home until 2 in the morning. Think about all the times we ALMOST got arrested for doing those things!" With that said, I turn and run up the stairs and to my room. I slam the door shut behind me and jump onto my bed. I hide my face in my pillow as I begin to cry.

_Why did he say that to me? I glad that he's concerned about me, but did he have to mention my parents? And why would he care if I dated Manic. We HAVE done worse things than Manic has._ I hear a knock on the door.

"Go away Dalton!" I yell.

"It's not Dalton." I hear from the other side of the door. "Can we come in?"

I'm quiet for a minute. Then, I reluctantly yell "Enter." I look up as the door opens, and Matt and Manic come into the room.

"Are you okay? Everybody heard you yelling at Dalton." Matt says.

I sit up and Manic sits one side of me while Matt sits on the other.

"No. Dalton told me I'm not allowed to date..." I look at Manic. "...you."

"Why?"

"Because he knows you're a thief and he thinks that you'll get me arrested for something you do. And he also thinks you're a bad influence on me."

"What? Whoa! Being a thief isn't really considered a bad influence for you, since you've been around people who do drugs and drink and smoke and stuff."

Manic cocks his head at him. "What?"

"We come from a small town." Matt says to him. "You and him have actually went off and got drunk and almost gotten arrested a few times."

"You have?"

"Yeah..." I say, feeling a little embarrassed. "But I don't do it that often."

"So what does he have to get all worked up for? Being a thief is a WAY better influence than anything you've seen."

"Yeah." I lay my head down on Manic's shoulder.

"In fact, I'm going to go talk to him right now." Matt jumps up and leaves the room, closing the door behind him.

Manic begins to stroke my head, trying to get me to calm down. I begin to think about the last thing Dalton said to me.

_What would your parents say if they were still around?_

"Manic... I need to tell you something..."

"What is it?"

"It's about... my parents..." I feel a big pang of sadness.

"What about your parents?"

I let out a sad sigh. "They aren't alive anymore..."

He stops stroking my head. "You mean you're a..."

"Yes... and it's all my fault." I remove my head from his shoulder as more tears form in my eyes.

"How is it your fault that they're dead?"

"Because... one of the last things I ever said to them was... I told them to go die." More tears come and I start to bawl and I cover my face.

He pulls me into a hug and rubs my back. I lay my head down on his shoulder as I cry my eyes out, remembering that day...

* * *

**Twenty months ago (for those of you who can't do the math, that would be October of almost two years ago.)**

It was homecoming. Everybody in town was getting ready for the big game that was just hours away, including me. I was helping with the FFA barbecue. After a while, my shift ends and I get to leave, but instead of leaving, I stick around since my dad was helping with the cooking. Dalton was with me. We were sitting in lawn chairs, just talking, being careful not to mention the fact that I snuck out and went tee-peeing with him and a few of his friends the night before. Then, one of Dalton's friends, Michael, walks up to us.

"Hey Dalton. Hey Missy." he says to us.

"Hey Michael." we say.

"Did you have fun last night, Missy."

I freeze up when he said that. I look at my dad and see that he didn't notice that. I breathe out a silent sigh of relief and respond with "What are you talking about? I stayed home and went to bed. Duh."

He gives me a confused look. "No you didn't. You went tee-peeing with us."

That caught my dad's attention.

I laugh nervously. "Ahaha, no I didnt."

"Yes you did. You had the best aim out of all of us."

"Michael. Shut up." Dalton says through his teeth in hopes that he'll shut his fuckin' mouth.

But he keeps at it. "I mean, the way you threw it over that three story house and it didn't touch the house once... although, that was just from my point of view."

My dad starts to make his way over to us.

"Michael. Shut up! You're gonna get me into..."

"Trouble." my dad finishes up when he stops next to my chair.

I look up at him. "Oh... hey dad!" I say in hopes that he'll take this as a big joke.

But he doesn't. "You went tee-peeing last night, after we told you that you couldn't."

"What? No I didn't. Michael here is just saying crazy things." I say, hoping he'll fall for it.

He gives me a look saying I'm in trouble.

I get out of the chair. "But dad! All my other friends went out and did it."

"I don't care. We had a reason for you to not go. You are grounded for disobeying us."

"But dad..."

"I don't wanna hear it! I'm calling your mom and you're going home right now."

I start to get very angry. I clench my hands into fists. "You never let me have any fun!"

He gives me a look saying that he didn't care and that's not going to help me any. I get even angrier.

"I hate you! I wish you guys would just leave me alone and die!" I turn around and make a dash for the woods. Once I get to the creek, I sit down and go nto a fetal position and start to cry. I cry in silence for a few minutes. Then I hear a twig break. I look up and see Dalton.

"Hey... are you okay?" he asks.

I shake my head. He comes and sits next to me. He wraps an arm around my back and I lay my head on his shoulder.

"Why do they have to do this to me?"

"They love you. They want what's best for you."

"What they tell me to do and stuff isn't what's best for me. I'm tired of them being overprotective. Why can't they just leave me the fuck alone?"

***End of flashback***

* * *

I start to feel tired, but I fight it. I remove my head from Manic's shoulder. I look into his eyes.

"You aren't going to get me into trouble for something you did, will you?"

"Baby, I don't even get into trouble for stealing. I never get caught. And I don't plan to anytime soon."

I smile at him. He lets go of me and takes my hands in his. "I love you. I'm not going to let anything happen to you."

My smile grows bigger when he said that. "I love you too."

He leans in and gives a brief kiss on the lips. He lies me down on the bed and holds me in his arms again. I close my eyes and fall asleep in his arms...


	11. Chapter 11

**Matt's POV:**

I run downstairs and into the living room.

"Hey, where's Dalton at." I asked.

"I think he went outside." Sonic says as he points at the door.

I nod and run out the door. I run down the steps into the woods.

"Dalton! Dalton! Where are you?" I yell.

_Oh, like that's gonna help any!_ I think to myself.I stop running and look around.

"Dalton. I know you're out here somewhere. Where are you?"

"I'm up here." I hear a voice say from above me. I look up and see a pair of feet dangling from a branch.

"Dalton, come down here."

"No."

I sigh as I walk up to the trunk of the tree.

"Why did you yell at Missy?"

"Because she's dating Manic."

"So?"

"So! What do you mean by so? Manic's a dilquient! He's gonna get Melissa into a hell lot of legal trouble and you're not worried about it?!"

I start to climb the tree.

"Manic's not gonna get Missy into any trouble."

"Yes, he will. He's trouble, with a capital T."

I roll my eyes at that.

"Dalton," I say as I reach the branch he's sitting on "I know that's not what's bugging you." I sit next to him. "What's wrong?"

"I just told you."

"No. I know that's not it. Tell me."

He doesn't say anything. He just stares out into the forest.

"I bet it's because you love her for more than just a friend, and you didn't get to tell her that."

He's quiet for a minute. Finally, he says "I did tell that I loved her. And she said it back. But look at her now! She's dating another guy. After she told me she loved me!"

I look at him and it looks like he's about to cry.

"Maybe she thought you just said it as a brotherly thing."

"...not really. I really meant that I was in love with her."

"Why didn't you tell her earlier?"

"I don't know. I guess I was afriad. After you guys broke up, I was gonna ask her out, but she acted like she didn't want to be in a relationship with her friends. So I didn't say anything to her." I looks away. "Now I really wish I had."

We don't say anything for a while. We just sit there on that branch; me looking out into the forest while he looked down at the ground in sadness and regret. Finally, I decide to say something and turn and look at him.

"Dalton." I say.

He looks at me.

"The minute we get back inside the house, tell her the real reason why you were upset."

"I can't. She already hates me as it is. If I tell her how I really feel, she'll hate me even more."

"No, she won't. I know she'll forgive you for your outburst."

"But what about the part where I tell her I love her?"

"I don't know. And you won't find out until you tell her."

He looks down at the ground. "I guess you're right."

"Good. Now, let's get down and go back inside."

"Actually, I want to stay here for a while longer."

"Oh... okay. I"ll see you inside then, I guess." I then climb back down the tree and head off towards the house.

* * *

**Dalton's POV:**

_How the hell am I supposed to tell Melissa how I feel? She's my best friend. And I defintally remember her telling me that she didn't want to date anybody that she was friends with anymore. Not after what she went through with Matt._

I sigh as I look out into the forest.

_I love her. I really do. I can't live without her. I should've told her when I had the chance. Why did I wait? I didn't I listen to my concincous? What is wrong with me?_

_Why did I even get mad at her for dating Manic. He's a good guy, I know. Why? Why am I so stupid sometimes. I can trust Manic. I know he hasn't hurt her or anything yet. And I know for certain that she's careful._

I sigh again as I begin to think. I then come up with an idea. I climb down the tree and run back towards the house.


End file.
